Oscar Winner:
As long as there have been movies, the war genre has existed. Many of the early ones, especially the ones that were focused on WWII, were very much American propaganda. As the 70's came along, so did a new whole style of filmmaking. It was never more apparent than the approach to the Vietnam war in the films Apocalypse Now and The Deer Hunter. Several years after those revolutionary films, Platoon came about with what I believe as a more inviting style, yet still maintaing its artistic integrity.
Based on Oliver Stone's actual experience as a volunteer (yep, a volunteer!) in Vietnam, Charlie Sheen plays Chris, a naive college student who quickly learns what a war experience actually is. As the atrocities and violence of the war wage on, Chris begins to discover himself. A battle of good and evil in the form of Sgt. Elias (Willem Dafoe) and Sgt. Barnes (Tom Berenger) force the men within Chris' platoon to choose sides. A war within a war emerges as Stone explores the animalistic nature that comes both from physical and internal battles within man.
If a modern war film can be described as approachable, I think this is it. There are still some very violent and hard-to-watch scenes, but it's the strength of its characters that I believe made it win Best Picture. Especially with Dafoe and Berenger's characters. Dafoe is so hippie-like in his loving spirit and Berenger's is so menacing with his scarred grin, that I was totally shocked not to see them on AFI's list of Heroes and Villains. Their rivalry matches that of Ali and Frazier, and although the material is very dramatic, it's a lot of fun to watch. It's also really entertaining to see all the now famous actors that got their start in this film. There's the great character actor Keith David, Forest Whitaker, Kevin Dillon (Entourage), John C. McGinley (Scrubs), Johnny Depp and many more.
The downfall of Platoon is the use of voiceover. Too many times Stone uses Chris to literally tell us what he is feeling instead of showing us. It's a very gripping film that holds your attention the whole time, but it's not one for me that draws me to come back. That said, I think it's a must see, especially if you like the war genre at all. It's a little bit easier to swallow than other war films and definitely holds up today.
I give Platoon 4 out of 5 night watches.
